In February 2006 the society's director, Stanislav Dmitrievsky, was convicted of incitement to ethnic or racial hatred for publishing articles written by Chechen separatist leaders.[2] In one, Aslan Maskhadov called on the international community to broker negotiations to stop the conflict in Chechnya. In another, Akhmed Zakayev appealed to Russian voters not to reelect President Vladimir Putin and claimed the conflict benefited only Putin.[3] The Society was formally closed by Russian authorities in October 2006 [4][5] but it continued some of its activities. In January 2007 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the decision to liquidate the society as an "extremist organization."[2] The organization now maintains its legal presence in Finland.[6]

The society is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy. In 2010 it received a grant of US $49,980 for "expanding and developing a web site".[9] Russian media responded to this funding with sharp criticism, with Russia Today condemning it as financing "the activities of bandits".[10]